SME eNewsletters

Airbus Moves to Alabama

Incentives and wooing from Alabama Governor Robert Bentley proved crucial.

Airbus announced in a press release dated April 8 that construction of the company’s new A320 Family Assembly Line officially began in Alabama. The company touted the factory as a future opportunity for up to 1,000 high-skilled workers directly at the factory, or in the supply chain.

During a groundbreaking ceremony at the Mobile Brookley Aeroplex, Airbus President and CEO Fabrice Brégier was quoted in the press release that “…when this assembly line opens, we will be the only one to assemble aircraft in Asia, the Americas and Europe.”

The new assembly line, which is the company’s first US-based production facility, will be located at the Mobile Brookley Aeroplex and will facilitate assembly of A319, A320, and A321 aircraft. Aircraft assembly is planned to begin in 2015, with first delivery of a Mobile-assembled aircraft in 2016. At full production, the assembly line and associated facilities would produce up to four aircraft a month.

Airbus already has a strong and growing presence in Alabama and throughout the United States. In Alabama, the company operates an Engineering Center in Mobile – also located at Brookley Aeroplex – which employs more than 200 engineers and support staff, according to the company. In addition, Airbus operates an Engineering Center in Wichita, Kansas, an aircraft Spares Center in Ashburn, Virginia; a Training Center in Miami, Florida, and a regulatory and government liaison office in Washington, DC. The company’s headquarters for the Americas is located in Herndon, Virginia.

In related reporting, theAP (4/9) reports, “Airbus broke ground on its first US airplane assembly plant Monday with a ceremony marking the start of a project that could help transform Alabama's coast into an aerospace center.” Keivan Deravi of Auburn University Montgomery thinks Airbus’ decision to place a plant in Alabama could make the state an influential player in the aerospace industry. Local officials similarly “hope the Airbus plant, being built at the1650-acre Brookley industrial park, will make Alabama the heart of aerospace work along the northern Gulf Coast.” The article briefly notes the region “already has a strong aerospace industry with NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville and a Delta rocket factory operated by United Launch Alliance nearby at Decatur.”

AFP (4/9) and other media sources also cover the story, noting “a subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, Airbus is also hoping the expanded US presence will help it compete with Boeing for US defense-related business.”

In other reporting, American Manufacturing (4/9) noted that “the Brookley Aeroplex looks to take advantage of its new addition by making the complex more attractive to future tenants.” The article said that the Mobile Airport Authority made significant improvements to boost Brookley’s competitive position, including updating bridges and facility upgrades.

Bloomberg (4/18, Dwoskin) noted that Alabama wooed Airbus as executives were skeptical of the Deep South. “In June 2011, Alabama Governor Robert Bentley traveled to the Paris Air Show, Europe’s largest aerospace industry gathering, in hopes of luring foreign investment to his state.” Incentives were offered that were similar to those offered if EADS won a military tanker contract, which it lost, according to the article. Bloomberg believes the ultimate value will be $600 million in investment and 4000 jobs to Alabama.